CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTION—Language—Origin of the Art of Writing—Various modes of recording events which preceded it—Materials upon which men first Wrote—Stones, Bricks, Metals, Skins and Intestines of Animals, Tablets, Leaves, Bark, etc., etc.—The Egyptian Papyrus, from which Paper (so called) was first made—Process of Manufacture—Usual dimensions and extreme durability of Papyri—Modern Paper—Its general advantages to mankind—Supposed period of its Invention—The Introduction of Paper-making into Europe—Historical incidents connected therewith—James Whatman—The superiority of his manufacture—Adoption of the Fourdrinier-Machine—General advantages of Machinery over the Original Process, etc., etc. 1